Why They Call Me “Candlefish”

Greetings! I’m a saltwater member of the smelt family and you will find me in the North Pacific. True, I am rather small​—only some eight inches (20 centimeters) long. But I’m delicious! At least many folks think so. Since people desire my tasty meat, fishermen catch me in rivers when I enter to spawn during February to April. But, why have I been named “candlefish”? Well, it all started years ago with a practice of Indians living on North America’s west coast. They dried members of my family and then used them as torches or candles.